Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott.
Oh my goodness it's wet and damp up here on Dartmoor.
I've just walked up on the moor and the wind and the rain is blowing across the moorland.
I have my hood up and waterproofs on and wellington boots on,
Walking with my head down to try and stop rain going on my face.
And I've just come now down to the lane that leads back down to my house.
The trees are dripping wet all around me.
You might get the occasional blop of water on the microphone but bear with me as I slowly make my damp way home again.
And today's reflection is around the power of healing and the power of healing of placing our attention on love and that healing energy and where that might lead.
And there are two little stories I want to tell you because both of them have been reflections for me over the past few days.
As you know I was on a walk,
A 10-day walk with my friend and my sister around Devon.
And on one of those days,
It was just over a week ago,
On a wet damp slope,
Grassy slope,
It had just rained and it was very slippy,
I actually lost my footing and fell on my bottom.
And as I went down I automatically put my hands out and strained one of my fingers.
It was uncomfortable but not that painful and I just laughed it off and carried on my walk.
And what I noticed over the days was that it began to swell up and then over time it became more uncomfortable and then gradually over a few more days the swelling went down and the finger now is pretty much back to exactly how it was.
And I realized just how quick it is to have a little accident like that,
Slip over,
Hurt yourself and then how long it takes for healing to take place.
It takes place,
It does it slowly.
The healing process is much slower than the action that created the injury in the first place.
And I've been reflecting on that again yesterday.
My husband and I went to see a play and the play was all about a true story of a young lad,
A teenager,
Who was a bit wayward,
Very wayward with his friends,
Went out one evening,
Threw a punch on a very unsuspecting innocent bystander and that one punch managed to kill that young man.
And the story was of the offender going through the criminal justice system,
Coming out the other side and then the restorative justice process,
Which is a process that brings together the victims and the perpetrators of crime in a very long,
Long process,
A drawn out slow process,
That helps bring understanding and healing for those that are the victims of crime.
But equally for the offenders it also brings about some kind of healing process and that's exactly what happened in this scenario.
The young lad,
He went to a young offender's prison and when he came out the other side the family of the the boy that had been killed just wanted to understand what had happened and they reached out through this restorative justice program and the mother of the deceased son,
She really reached out and took an interest in the life of this young wayward lad that had ended up behind bars and he began to feel a sense of healing himself,
As did they in this long process,
Gentle process of coming together,
Of connection and of healing.
And it kind of reminded me of the journey my finger took,
This very short sharp injury that took place and then the slow gradual journey of healing and the same with this young lad,
This short sharp action that led to the death of another young man and the gradual healing that took place between the victim's family and this young man over a period of time.
And I realized that I feel very drawn to the healing process,
It inspires me,
It has me feel like I have something I might offer there and I talk about the healing process of psychological healing and I realize that we all can put our attention and our awareness on this side of the process,
The healing process,
It might take years but we can contribute in some way shape or form by bringing our awareness and attention to unconditional love and sharing peace in the world and that in turn shares healing.
So today is just a reflection on that and I'd love to know your thoughts as well.
So let me know where you feel you are in supporting the healing journey of others in your life or maybe the wider healing journey of the world itself.
I would love to hear from you and don't forget to join me again tomorrow for another Five Minutes in Nature.
